Pack Line Defense for High School Basketball

Brian Field has put together one of the best videos on building and teaching the pack line defense! He shows the defense's primary concepts on the chalkboard before giving you a detailed on-court presentation with drills and demonstrations.

You'll see a variation of the pack line in which players force the offense to the baseline. Coach Field explains how this defense has improved his team's ability to force opponents into much tougher shots. He also details the only time he wants his players to switch, as well as the half court philosophies used with this defense that have created so much success for his teams.

Triangle

One pass away, defenders are inward and upward towards the ball. This allows your defender who's one pass away to be there against dribble penetration. As Coach Field mentions, you'll see a lot of younger players guarding too close to their defensive assignment, which slows rotations. By maintaining a triangle, your defender can get into the passing lane, be available for help, and, be close enough to close out if their assignment catches the basketball.

Forcing Baseline

Most resources explaining the pack line defense have players force the offense to the middle of the floor, which is where your help is waiting. By forcing baseline, you'll take away the offense's ability to use both sides of the floor. Coach Field shows that keeping the offense on the sideline forces them to float a pass when they skip to the weak side. By forcing a tough pass across the court, your defensive players will be in help position to jump that pass.

Brockport Drill

Coach Field's 'Brockport Drill' is like Shaka Smart's 'Ironman Drill' where players must take a charge. The difference though, is the Brockport Drill is more of a variation of the Shell Drill. Instead of one player doing multiple effort/toughness actions, Brockport uses four players who must rotate into help and on-ball defense as the ball rotates. Meanwhile, weak side helpers must cut off baseline and take a charge. This drill reinforces a toughness element while ensuring proper rotations and communication.

This video gives you a complete look at Coach Field's variation of the pack line defense, which is different than most videos on the same topic. The subtle tweaks taught in this video have proven to be effective at the high school level, meaning this is a must-watch for coaches of that age group!

76 minutes. 2018.